Antishifting means for piled metal sheets



w. J. HAMMOND ANTLSHIFTING MEANS FOR FILED 'METAL SHEETS Filed May 20,E925 IWA Dec. i925 Patented Dec. l, 1925.

UNITED -STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J' HAMMOND, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ANTISHIFTING FOR PILED METAI. SHEETS.

Application led Hay20, 1925, Serial No. 31,552.

for Piled Metal Sheets, of which the following is a specification.

The primary object of my invention isto provide comparatively simple andinexpensive mea-ns of superior effectiveness in preventing metal sheets,and the like, in piles thereof. undergoing transportation, from shiftingand consequent damage.

I have more particularly devised my 1nvention for an improvement on thepractice of shipping metal sheets in boX-carswherein it is usual tostack them'in piles, though my improved means may be similarly used inother. transporting vehicles,.includ1ng boats and trucks having oors,and 4for securing in`place therein, as well as in boxcars, othermerchandise. *How/ever, having devised my anti-shifting deviceparticularly,

for use in box-cars, it is hereinafter. described in that connect1on.

It 1s common practice, 1n shippln metal sheets in box-cars, as fromsheet-stee manufacturing plants, to pile the sheets 1n opposite sides ofopposite ends of the car to leave the doorways unobstructed, and toprovidea longitudinal aisle between the pllesmto facilitate handling ofthe sheets.

The loading rules of the Amerlcan Rall- Way Associatlon are veryexacting with re` gard to bracing the piles to prevent damage intransit, as by shifting thereof and of the ysheets 4therein inyard-switchin of the cars and by the jolting to which t ey are subjectedin motion. i

To observe these loading'rules it isquite general practice to supporteach pile on-'stationary wedge-blocks at its opposite ends, to providewooden uprig'hts at those ends secured by cleats nailed to the car-floorand to extend wooden bracing means between pairs of the piles, all thisrequiring much lumber, which becomes largely wasted because having,anyway for the most part, only a single use,'and involving the work ofskilled laborfor several hours of installainfrequent occurrence for suchelaborate bracing to be ineffective in its pur ose, the piles sometimesshifting bodily wit resultant damage to the car-ends, or becomingdisorganizedand permitting sheets to shift on or even olf' them, withresultant damage, particularly inthe way of bending their edges, andespecially their corner-portions, thereby rendering them unfit forintended uses and requiring their return to the mill for re-rolling,with consequent loss to the shipper and dissatisfaction to the customer.

The aforesaid and other objections are overcome by my improvementillustrated in the accompanylng drawing, in which` Figure 1 is a brokensectional plan view of a portion of `a box-oar loaded 1n accordance`with my improvement;

Fig. 2 is a broken-view showing a section on line 2 2, of Fig. 1; 'l

Fig. 3 is a. similar view showing a section on line 3-3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a section on l-ine 4.--4, Fig. 2, and-Fig. 5 is a section on line 5--5, Fig. 1, of one ofthe upper of the twobars between which thev sheets in a pile thereof are confinedagainst-shifting.

The box-car A represented embodies no features of novelty, but mayinvolve a-ny ordinary` or suitable construction. Metal sheets to betransported inx the car are customarily disposed in one or more stacksB,

each stack occupying an end-portion ofI a'4 lside of the car to leavethe doorways C'unequipped with my complete anti-shifting means, whereasthe vop osite pile is merely represented in outline yv dotted lineswithout the top membersfof said means being placed for exerting thetightening function ereinafter described. It is desirable and customaryto prepare for piling the sheets by securingto the car-floor simllarwooden bracing blocks 6 of wedge-shape, for supporting the ile at its oposite ends, a set of two such locks being s own at each end, in Fig. 1;and cleats 6 are shown nailed to the floor to reinforce the blocks.' Theile being thus supported' sags, as represente in Fig. 2, between thepairs of wedge-blocks,

and may contact therebetween with thel carfloor, on which it isfurthermore customary and desirable to fasten wooden cleats 7 atopposite sides of the pile to stay it laterally.

vThe bracing means thus described as being hitherto used may bedesirably, but not necessarily employed with my improvement, describedas follows:

Adjacent each end of a pile of the sheets to be stacked, and near theinner ends of the respective blocks 6, is laid, to extend across thepile B in frictional contact with the car-loor, a bottom-bar 8,preferablyl of metal and of greater length than the width of the pile tobe formed, in order that it shall project beyond the sides thereof,where it is provided with holes 8a for the rods hereinafter described.For the bars 8, I prefer to use those of channel-form because under theweight upon them their flanges willengage the car-floor in a mannertending to prevent slipping; and also because of the strength of thatform of bar. And, since the metal bar should not contact with thelowermost sheet, because of liability of marring it, I provide acushioning medium, which should `loe of the length and width of themetal bar and contain holes to register with the holes 8, a bar 8b ofsoft-wood, such as pine, being most desirable for the purpose of thussupplementing the bar 8; and the two affording practically a singlecushioning bar. Moreover, the tops of the cushioning bars should slant,as shown in Fig. 2, to conform to the inclination of the portion of thepile B'bearing thereon, thereby to avoid tilting of the bottom bars ontheir inner flanges under the wei ht of the ile 8 and cause substantialluni orm bearing of the two bar-flanges throughout their length.

With a pile or piles B loaded into the car, bars 10, preferably like thebars 8 in form and dimensions and provided with holes like the holes 8alto register with the latter,

and also provided with cushioning meansv 10, are laid across the top ofthe pile near its opposite ends, but with each preferably slightlyoffset from the relative bottom bar, as represented in Fig. 2, for thepurpose hereinafter explained. The cushioning means in this instance isalso preferably a bar of soft Wood, and it is Shown fitting within thehollow of the channel-bar, the flanges of which meet shoulders (Fig. 5)behind an expanded face of the wood to bear against the uppermost sheetof the pile and avoid the undesirable metal-against-metal mar'ringcontact, hereinbefore referred to. The open side of the channel-bar 10on top of the pile B being undermost, enables the cushionln medium 10 toform a permanent part of t e bar, and may be fastened in place, as byscrews 11.

, With the bottom-bars 8 and top-bars 1() in place, metal rods 12, whichmay be solid or tubular, are applied by passing a rod through theirrespective holes at each side of the'pile and forcing the bars 10against theAtop of the pile to tighten the metal sheets in place. Eachrod is provided on its lower end with a stop, shown as a nut 13, andis'threaded along its upper portion for working a nut 14 thereon, as thepreferred means for cooperating with'vthe rods to force down thetop-bars for tightening the metal sheets in the pile against shifting.

' The purpose, in applying the top clamping bar in offset relation toits companion bottom bar, is to cause each rod to extend through aperpendicular plane at right angles to the tangent to the surface of thepile at that point, and thus produce flatwise bearing against theuppermost sheet Aof the bar 10 in tightening the nuts 14 to confine thesheetsin the pile.

It will thus be seen that the several sheets are held tightly togetherin superposed relation and prevented from displacement, and that theweight of the pile of sheets causes the lower bar to frictionally engagethe transporting vehicle thus preventing the shifting of the pileofsheets as a whole.

i A box-car loaded with four piles of metal sheets may be completelyequipped with my improved anti-shifting means by an unskilled laborer inthirty minutes, as against several hours a. carpenter requires for cut-Vting and placing the lumber (mostly twoby-fours) for the pile-bracingpurpose as hitherto practised.

I realize that considerable variation is possible in the details ofconstruction of my invention thus shown and described, and I do notintend to be limited thereto except as pointed out in the appendedclaims, in which it is my intention toA claim all the novelty inherentin my invention as broadly as permissible by the state of the art.

I claim- 1. Anti-shifting means for piled metal sheets whereby toprevent their displacement, either singly or as a mass, While intransit, comprising a lower pile-supporting bar Yof a length to causeits ends to project beyond the sides ofthe pile said bar fric.- tionallyengaging the transporting vehicle in degree proportionate to theweightof the sheets piled thereon, an upper bar extending across the top ofthe pile with its ends projecting beyond the sides thereof, meansconnecting the ends of said bars, and tightening means co-operating withsaid barconnecting means to confine the piled sheets between said bars.v

2. Anti-shifting means for piled metal sheets in transit, comprising alower channel-bar extending across the bottom of the pile and a barextending across the top thereof, each bar being of length to projectsides, rods connecting said bars through! their end-portions and havingthreaded upper ends, and nuts on the threaded rod-ends for releasablyconfining the piled sheets between said bars. i

4. In combination with a pile of metal sheets, or the like, stacked fortransit in a car, anti-shifting means comprising a cushioningchannel-bar of greater length than the width of the pile extendingacross the bottom thereof, a channel-bar similarly extending across thetop of the pile and containing a bar of cushioning material bearingagainst the pile, rods connecting said bars at their end-portions, andtightening means cooperating with the rods to confine the piled sheetsbetween said bars.

5. In combination with a pile of metal sheets, or the like, stacked fortransit in a car, bars extending respectively across the bottomand topof the pile near each end thereof and beyond its sides with the lowerbar bearing on the car floor, rods connecting each lower bar at itsprojecting ends with those of the corresponding upper bar, andtightening means cooperating with the rods to releasabl)T confine thepiled sheets between said upper and lower bars.

6. In a "car having lmetal sheets, or the like, stacked in piles inopposite sides of the car to form an intermediate aisle, with each pileresting at its opposite ends on wedgeblocks secured in place,anti-shifting means `for the stacked metal sheets, applied between theinner ends of the opposite pairs of wedge-blocks and comprising for eachend-portion of a pile a pair of bars having its members extendingrespectively across its bottom and top and beyond the sides thereof,end-threaded rods connecting the members of each pair of the bars attheir projecting end-portions, and ynuts on the threaded rodends forreleasably confining the sheetsbetween said bars.

7. In a car having piles of metal sheets, or the like, stacked inopposite sides thereof to form an intermediate aisle, with each pileresting at its opposite ends on wedge-blocks secured in place.anti-shifting means for the stacked metal sheets, applied between theinner ends of the opposite pairs of wedgeblocks and comprising for eachend-portion of a pile a pair of cushioning channel-bars having itsmembers extending respectively across the bottom and top and bevond thesides thereof, rods extending through and connecting the members of eachpairof the bars at their projecting end-portions and having their upperends threaded, and nuts on the threaded rod-ends for releasablyconinving the sheets between said bars.

WILLIAM J. HAMMOND.

